The child drinks cocktails in the cafeteria until alcoholism, the restaurant or the pot that accompanies the parents?
According to media reports, a group of children in Ya'an, Sichuan Province, mistakenly drank cocktails as drinks while having dinner in a cafeteria to celebrate Children's Day, and one of them drank it unconsciously and was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.
The child's parents complained about the restaurant and demanded compensation.
Ms. Yang, the restaurant owner involved, argued that the children did not mistake the cocktail for a drink, and that the clerk had reminded that it was a cocktail; And there is a notice "No underage drinking" posted in the store.
According to Boss Yang, there were 13 children at dinner, accompanied by 3 or 4 parents outside the restaurant.
The clerk noticed that the children were repeatedly discouraged from drinking cocktails and took them away, but the children brought them themselves halfway.
Boss Yang also added: "When we said (no drinking), the adults laughed and told them to drink less. ”
Finally, Boss Yang said that at about 8 p.m. that night, the child who was sent to the hospital had sobered up and should be allergic to alcohol.
After the child's parents complained, the public security organs collected surveillance video evidence from the store. At present, the incident has been resolved and has not affected the store.
Boss Yang meant that the official did not believe that the restaurant was at fault and needed to bear any responsibility.
Most netizens who participated in the discussion also believed that since they were accompanied by their parents, they not only did not stop it, but even encouraged the children to drink; Restaurants, on the other hand, have done their duty to discourage. Therefore, the restaurant is indeed not responsible; If there is to be accountability, it should be the accompanying parents, not the restaurant.
Is this really the case?
Can the store be exempted from liability by putting up a sign saying "No Underage Drinking"?
Boss Yang and many netizens and the restaurant waiter have fulfilled their obligation to dissuade, and in accordance with the law, posted a reminder in a conspicuous position in the store that "no underage drinking" is prohibited, and the restaurant involved should not be liable.
Boss Yang said that "the incident has been resolved and has not affected the store", which seems to mean that the official does not believe that the store should be held responsible and has not imposed any penalties on the restaurant.
Is underage drinking prohibited by mainland law?
However, there is no legal provision prohibiting the drinking of minors on the mainland; Some are simply "prohibition of the sale of alcohol to minors".
These legal provisions include:
Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors
Article 11: Parents or other guardians shall pay attention to minors' physical and psychological conditions and behavioral habits, educate and influence minors with healthy thinking, good conduct, and appropriate methods, guide minors to carry out activities beneficial to physical and mental health, and prevent and stop minors' smoking, alcoholism, vagrancy, or addiction to the Internet, as well as conduct such as gambling, drug use, and prostitution.
Article 37: The sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors is prohibited, and proprietors shall set up signs in conspicuous positions stating that they do not sell tobacco and alcohol to minors; Where it is difficult to determine whether they are adults, they shall be required to present their identity documents.
No one shall smoke or drink alcohol in the classrooms, dormitories, activity rooms and other places where minors gather in primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, nurseries, and other places where minors gather for activities.
Article 67:Where tobacco and alcohol are sold to minors, or signs are not set up in a conspicuous position that do not sell tobacco and alcohol to minors, the competent departments are to order corrections and give administrative punishments in accordance with law.
The Ministry of Commerce promulgated the Measures for the Administration of Alcohol Circulation
Article 19: Liquor business operators must not sell alcohol commodities to minors, and shall clearly indicate them in a conspicuous position on the business premises.
Obviously, mainland law only prohibits alcohol operators from selling alcohol products to minors, and there are no regulations prohibiting underage drinking (alcoholism refers to long-term heavy drinking, which is not the same thing as drinking).
Moreover, some merchants cleverly post signs that restrict consumers such as "prohibiting minors from purchasing research goods" instead of restricting the seller's own behavior, which is also non-compliant.
Most countries "prohibit the sale of alcohol to minors, do not prohibit the drinking of minors"
Alcohol consumption is notoriously harmful to physical and mental health, especially underage. As a result, most countries around the world have regulations prohibiting underage drinking.
In addition to the fact that nearly 20 Muslim countries make drinking illegal, or Muslim drinking illegal, these prohibitions can be divided into two areas:
Set a national minimum legal drinking age
That is, the law stipulates that drinking alcohol is only legal if you have reached a certain age, and it is illegal for people below this age to drink alcohol and is a prohibited act.
The legal drinking age varies widely around the world, ranging from 16 to 25 years old.
Among them, the legal drinking age in countries such as the United States and Kazakhstan is 21 years old, which is the highest legal drinking age in the world.
The legal drinking age is 25 in only some parts of the country, including India.
Several countries, such as Japan and Iceland, followed by the legal drinking age at 20.
Some European countries, such as Belgium, Spain, and Austria, have a legal drinking age of 16.
The legal drinking age in most countries is 18.
Set age limits for on-site service and off-site alcohol purchases
Of course, 120 countries, including the mainland, do not have a minimum legal drinking age and set a minimum age to buy alcoholic beverages, whether they buy alcohol on-site or take it away.
The age at which you can legally buy alcohol is basically between 16 and 21 years old, and 18 years old in most countries, including the mainland.
The restaurant involved in Sichuan was suspected of illegally selling alcohol to minors and should be held responsible
It can be seen that there is no provision prohibiting the drinking of minors in mainland law, but only prohibiting alcohol operators from selling alcohol products to minors, and placing signs in conspicuous positions to make this clear.
According to the report, the restaurant in question was marked with a "no minors drinking" reminder that restricts the behavior of others, and did not explicitly restrict itself in accordance with the law "prohibit the sale of tobacco products to minors" sign;
Moreover, despite the dissuasion, the waiter did not strictly implement the law of "prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors", and the relevant departments should punish the suspected illegal business in accordance with the law, rather than "not affecting the store".
Ignorance can kill people, but accompanying parents is not illegal
It should be pointed out that the child who drank coma and was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment in the incident was not an alcohol allergy, but acute alcoholism.
In fact, so far there has not been a single confirmed case of a real "alcohol allergy" worldwide, in other words, there may not be such a thing as an alcohol allergy at all - there will be a chance to introduce it later.
What really requires high vigilance is that acute alcoholism of "drinking to coma" is different from the usual "drunkenness", which is the result of the inhibition of life centers including consciousness, breathing and heartbeat by high concentrations of alcohol in the body after drinking a large amount of alcohol, and can be dead.
Studies have known that blood alcohol concentrations exceeding 300mg/100ml, especially 350mg/100ml, can cause death, and the need for traditional understanding is obviously higher than the level of 400mg/100ml.
The tolerance of the minor's brain to alcohol is significantly low, and lower blood alcohol concentrations may lead to death from alcoholism.
For example, in a report of three deaths from alcoholism, the blood alcohol concentrations of the autopsy of the three deceased were 528mg/100ml, 333mg/100ml, and 378mg/100ml, respectively; The ages of the three were 43 (male), 27 (female) and 19 (male).
Therefore, although the ignorance of several parents accompanying the incident almost killed people, it was not illegal; It is the cafeteria that is liable for illegal operations.